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Unity announces changes to Runtime Fee policy following backlash

Runtime Fees will no longer apply to existing or currently in development projects.
Donovan Erskine
Donovan Erskine
Unity
3

Unity has been in a bit of a crisis since it announced Runtime Fees last week, which would see developers having to make payments toward the company based on game sales and installs. After releasing a statement last week in which it indicated upcoming changes to the policy, Unity has issued an official apology for the announcement of its Runtime Fee policy, and has announced changes in hopes of winning back soured devs.

The statement was posted today and written by Marc Whitten, the lead at Unity Create. He apologizes for the damage that the news caused in the development community, as many studios released statements opposing Unity and encouraging others to seek alternate engines for their projects. He goes on to announce the changes coming to the Runtime Fee policy.

Cult of the Lamb key art of characters worshipping.
Cult of the Lamb developer Massive Monster was one of several developers that made public statements against Unity's Runtime Fees.
Source: Devolver Digital

Changes are also coming to Unity Pro and Unity Enterprise users. Instead of going into effect on January 1, 2024, the fees will instead apply to these users alongside the next LTS version of Unity, which is currently expected to arrive sometime in 2024. The fees won’t apply to existing games or ones that are currently in development.

Unity took a lot of fire for its announcement of Runtime Fees, and it’ll likely be an uphill battle to undo that damage and establish trust with developers. We’ll continue to follow the situation and provide updates over on our Unity Engine topic page.

News Editor
News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_

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